Why roof tiles exist. I understand why we don’t have flat roofs, but why do we have hundreds of tiles that sort of overlap each other and can be pulled or blown off easily?
Why aren’t roofs like a giant tent, still A shaped but each side is just a big sheet of whatever weatherproof material we got?
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Having a hard shell is usually preferred – a soft shell in the wind can move a lot, and most people don’t like that. Also prevents damage from things landing on it (branches, etc).
Second, smaller pieces lets the roof be more modular; it lets us reuse the same materials for differently shaped roofs, rather than needing custom sheets for different houses. It also is easier to replace a few tiles/ shingles that break compared to replacing the entire sheet or adding an ugly patch.
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